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H A R Y A N A |  |
 Sunday, December 6, 1998 |
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HAU scientists develop medicinal
herb HISAR, Dec 5 — Scientists of CCS Haryana Agricultural University working on medicinal and aromatic plants have succeeded in developing a promising variety of periwinkle, a herb of medicinal value. Army
recruitment process simplified |
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Area maintenance: MC's bid
to pass the buck rejected FARIDABAD, Dec 5 — The Haryana Government has turned down the demand of the Faridabad Municipal Corporation that the maintenance of the residential and industrial sectors be given back to the Haryana Urban Development Authority. Pro-Bhajan
faction boycotts meeting Employees'
unions to launch joint offensive 9 get
life term for double murder Demolitions:
morcha to intensify stir Flag
Day appeal by Governor |
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| 2 die in road mishap HVP leader resigns Bicycle rally on polio Manch criticises Vajpayee govt |
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Woman crushed to death 3 youths arrested Students hold march
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HAU scientists develop
medicinal herb HISAR, Dec 5 — Scientists of CCS Haryana Agricultural University working on medicinal and aromatic plants have succeeded in developing a promising variety of periwinkle, a herb of medicinal value. The new variety, named SEL 1, is a good yielder of dry roots and leaves and also bears flowers having excellent fragrance. Parts of it carry medicinal value. Scientists of this university had developed a variety of liquorice (Mulhatti), considered to be the best in the world a couple of years ago. The Vice-Chancellor, Prof J.B. Choudhury, said the roots and leaf of this herb contain important alkaloids. While the root alkaloids are sedative in action, the leaf alkaloids have applicability in cancer therapy. Since SEL 1 variety was a high yielder of roots and leaves more recovery of these alkaloids was possible, he said. He said the credit for developing this variety goes to Dr G.D. Sharma, Dr P.K. Verma and Dr S.N. Gupta. Prof Chowdhury said this variety had also been recommended for release at the national level as it possessed the much-desired traits. The Isabgol bred (HI-34) at this university has also been adjudged as the highest yielder in the all-India co-ordinated trials conducted during the past two years. Prof Chowdhury said in recognition of work on Mulhatti being done here, the university had been declared as Centre of Excellence for Research on Mulhatti. He said efforts were being
made to popularise cultivation of medicinal crops among
farmers so that these could earn profits. The university,
he said, had also maintained a herbal garden to develop
and protect rare and endangered herb species. |
Army recruitment process
simplified AMBALA, Dec 5 — With a view to bringing more openness into recruitment procedures officials of the Ambala recruiting zone have introduced new norms and procedures for the selection of armymen. The old system of submitting applications and issuing of call letters has been done away with and recruitment will henceforth be made only at rallies, to be held on quarterly basis. Lieutenant Commandant Vinod Kumar, Recruiting Officer, disclosed that the rally for the candidates, of Haryana state, which started on December 2 at the Kharga Stadium in the cantonment here, would continue till December 22 under the aegis of the headquarters of the Ambala cantonment recruiting zone. He said details of the programme for various categories which were being screened had already been given wide publicity through press releases, circulars to government and semi-government offices and All India Radio. In order to allay fears of favouritism, two independent teams from Hisar and Palampur had been deputed for screening the candidates. They are being assisted by members detailed by the station headquarters from military units in station. The aim is to ensure transparency, objectivity and impartiality, said Brig P.S. Sandhu, Deputy Director General, Recruiting, Ambala Zone. Lt Commandant Kumar said that for the convenience of the candidates, verification of documents, physical fitness tests, physical measurements and medical examination were all being done the same day. The written examination for all the qualifying candidates would be held on December 27 at the rally site. The result would be announced by the middle of January next. Brig Sandhu said that from the next quarter commencing from January 1999, the recruiting teams would visit non-military stations for which the schedule and modalities would be issued by the middle of the month. The recruiting officer
said that the response from Mazhabi and Ramdasia Sikhs
was lacking and all efforts were being made to find
suitable candidates from these castes. |
Doctors' shortage at district
hospital KAITHAL: Does it not sound strange that a government referral hospital catering to 10 lakh population of this district has been without a physician for long stretches over the past three years? It is pertinent to mention that the Chief Medical Officer, Kaithal, is aware of this situation but no action has been taken to fill this vacancy. The matter does not end here. Similarly the post of Radiologist, too, has remained unfilled for a number of years and the ultra-sound machine purchased by the hospital is lying unused. Though X-rays are being conducted by technicians, there is no Radiologist available to give his expert opinion on the X-rays conducted. Neither is there an ENT specialist at the hospital. On a number of occasions, patients complain that they have to wait for a long time to see doctors in the OPD. When contacted, the CMO said doctors were generally available but when some of them proceed on leave and others go to courts (to attend legal cases), there were problems. In the absence of a specialist, T.B. patients are the worst sufferers and they have to go to Kurukshetra and other towns for treatment. The Civil Hospital here was upgraded from a 50 to 100-bed hospital more than 10 years ago, but the matter regarding expansion of the building has been hanging fire due to bureaucratic hurdles and red-tapism. The lack of initiative by the elected representatives of the people is alleged to be responsible for this sorry state of affairs. According to information, there was provision for the construction of about a dozen residential units for doctors in the hospital's initial master plan, but only two houses were constructed more than 25 years ago. Owing to non-availability of residential accommodation on the hospital premises the doctors live in different localities of the town. In case of emergency and on night duty it is inconvenient for them, specially lady doctors, to reach hospital. Besides, there is a shortage of accommodation of nursing staff and other employees as well. On account of space scarcity, two to three doctors sit in one room of the OPD ward and there is no place to examine patients, which jeopardises the privacy of patients. The post-mortem of bodies is conducted in a dilapidated room, away from the main hospital building. The room is without light and water, which causes inconvenience to doctors and other staff members. Besides, the relatives or the police personnel accompanying bodies have to sit on the roadside exposed to the vagaries of the weather. No doubt, keeping in view the needs of the staff posted at district headquarters, the government has built District Training Office (DTO) and post-partem (PP) centre, to provide care to the new-born babies. But these are without any pucca approach road and inconvenient to the users, particularly during the monsoon. Due to prevailing red-tapism and indifferent attitude of the senior officers of the health department, many old unusable vehicles were dumped opposite the OPD ward. Due to delay in their disposal their value has reduced considerably and these have become merely a scrap. People want that the officials responsible for such lapse should be taken to task by the government. Another major irritant among the patients and others is the parking of senior officials' vehicles in the OPD porch. This blocked entry to the ward. The situation in about
three community health centres (CHCs) and 19 primary
health centres was also not satisfactory, as only one CHC
at Kaul had its own building, which was constructed due
to the efforts of former Speaker. Mr Ishwar Singh, who
represented this area. The other two CHCs — at
Kalayat and Guhla — were functioning from
dilapidated buildings. At Kalayat out of five sanctioned
posts of doctors four were vacant. Out of 19 PHCs three
had their own buildings. In three others at Jakholi, Pai
and Rasina new buildings are under construction though at
a slow pace. These PHCs, needed new buildings and proper
staff to provide proper health services to those living
in the rural areas. |
Area maintenance FARIDABAD, Dec 5 — The Haryana Government has turned down the demand of the Faridabad Municipal Corporation that the maintenance of the residential and industrial sectors be given back to the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA). This was conveyed by Mr HS Rana, Joint Secretary, Local Bodies Department, at a meeting of the councillors presided over by the Mayor here yesterday. Mr Rana said that HUDA had only developed the sectors and it was not its responsibility to maintain them after these were handed over to civic bodies. The general house of the corporation had last month passed a resolution that either HUDA be given the task of maintenance of the sectors or a new agreement be signed between the two organisations. This was done after the corporation failed to maintain the sectors because of its critical financial position. It was stated that the civic body earned far less revenue from the sectors than it had to spend on their maintenance. It also sought that Rs 29 crore due from HUDA immediately be paid. Mr Rana said that a high-level meeting presided over by the chief secretary would soon be held in Chandigarh to examine the demands of the corporation. The mayor and the commissioner of the corporation would be taken into confidence before taking any decision. The councillors expressed resentment at the proposed heavy increase in house tax for which a survey had already been completed. They said tax should continue to be realised on the old pattern till a new taxation policy was formulated after taking into confidence the elected representatives. The meeting wanted that electricity rates for street lights be charged on the agriculture pattern and not on commercial rates as was being done now. At present the corporation pays Rs 20 lakh per month to the Vidyut Prasaaran Nigam, which is beyond its capacity to pay. The corporation will also
be given its share of the sale of liquor at the rate of
Rs 2 per bottle of IMFL, Re one country liquor and 25
paise for beer bottles. |
Pro-Bhajan faction boycotts
meeting FATEHABAD, Dec 5 — Factionalism in the Congress again came to the fore, when many senior local leaders of the Congress owing allegiance to former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal abstained from the worker meeting of the district unit of the Congress here today. The meeting, which was addressed by former Union Minister Ms Selja, was attended among others by Dr K.V. Singh, senior vice-president of the state Congress, Ms Sushila Sharma, president of the district unit, Ms Vandana Verma, Mr Arvind Sharma, Mr Ram Raj Mehta, Mr Jaipal Singh Lali and Mr Krishan Taneja. But senior leaders like a former Haryana Minister and a former legislator from here Mr Leela Krishan, vice-president of the zila parishad Mr Dura Ram and chairperson of the local panchayat samiti Ms Indira Bishnoi stayed away. Addressing party workers, Ms Selja exhorted them to work hard in their respective areas as ‘good days’ were not very far away. The BJP government at the Centre, she said, had been rejected by the people and the election results of states that went to polls recently have confirmed this. Coming down heavily on the BJP government at the Centre, Ms Selja said that the BJP had been pursuing a politics of false promises but the people had shown that such factors did not survive for long. The central government, she alleged, had failed on every front specially prices, and foreign policy. Ms Selja said that the
state government too had failed on all fronts and the law
and order situation in the state had touched its nadir.
Lakhs of acres of agricultural land had been rendered
useless by water-logging and the government had not been
able to take effective steps for dewatering fields. |
Employees' unions to launch joint
offensive FATEHABAD, Dec 5 — Two major organisations of the government employees in Haryana, the Haryana Karamchari Mahasangh and the Sarv Karamchari Sangh have decided to launch a joint offensive against the government for the acceptance of the common demands of employees. The two organisations have reached an understanding after a series of meetings of the senior office-bearers of the organisations. The two organisations have launched joint agitation against the government earlier also, but every time they have ended up levelling serious accusations against each other. Last time the two organisations launched a joint struggle against the government was in 1997 when a joint action committee of the two organisations was formed to support the strike of the Municipal employees at that time. But now the leaders of the
two organisations have once again decided bury the
hatchet and to renew the efforts for employees’
unity. Leaders of the two organisations will meet on
December 13 and chalk out the strategy for the joint
struggle, decide the format of the new body and charter
of demands. |
9 get life term for double
murder ROHTAK, Dec 5 — Nine persons of Rohad village in Bahadurgarh subdivision of Jhajjar district have been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr RK Bishnoi, in connection with a double murder in the village about three years ago. According to information, the accused had allegedly murdered one Ramesh and his father with sharp-edged weapons when they were going to their fields on May 9, 1995. The victims reportedly had some old enmity with the accused. The accused who have been sentenced to life imprisonment are Balraj, alias Nanha, Raj Kumar, Rajpal. Mahender, alias Vakila, Naresh, Shri Bhagwan, Sher Singh, Raj Singh and Mannu. The court has also imposed
a fine of Rs 20,000 on each of the accused. It has also
ordered ex-gratia compensation of Rs 50000 to the widow
of Ramesh from the amount of fine recovered from the
accused. |
Demolitions: morcha to intensify stir ROHTAK, Dec 5 — The Atychar Virodhi Morcha, formed after the demolition of about 20 houses of Sanjay Gandhi Balmiki Colony near PGIMS campus here, has decided to intensify its agitation in support of the relocation of the affected persons at the same place. The convener of the Morcha, Dr Charan Singh, in a statement issued here today, said the poor families whose houses had been demolished on November 27, last were still without a roof. Describing the demolition as ‘illegal’, he said the affected families were not in a position to seek the help of the court in this regard. The morcha would continue its agitation till the demand was met by the authorities. He announced that a
Mahapanchayat of Dalits would be called at Rohtak soon to
chalk out a strategy in this regard. A dharna could also
be staged outside the office of the Deputy Commissioner
from December 8 if no relief was provided to the affected
families. |
Flag Day appeal by Governor CHANDIGARH, Dec 5 — The Haryana Governor, Mr Mahabir Prasad, and the Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal, have appealed to the people to donate liberally to the flag day fund on Armed Forces Flag Day which falls on December 7. In a joint message, they
described the Armed Forces Flag Day as an occasion to
remember the brave soldiers of our Army, Navy and Air
Force, who had laid down their lives so that the country
might live in freedom and peace. They said that the
people of Haryana had always honoured the brave personnel
of our armed forces and their families. |
2 die in road mishap ROHTAK, Dec 5 — Two members of a marriage party were killed and four others injured in a jeep-bus collision on the Rohtak-Bhiwani road last night. Dharmender of Luxmi Nagar
and Manoj of Prem Nagar here were killed and Rajinder,
Jaswant, Teja and Sanjay were injured when the bus hit
the jeep while overtaking near Kalanaur town. The injured
have been admitted to the PGIMS here. |
Woman crushed to death KAITHAL, Dec 5 — A
woman was seriously injured when a roadways bus hit her
near Bata village last night. She was rushed to the Civil
Hospital here where she succumbed to the injuries. The
police has registered a case under Sections 279 and 304 A
of the IPC, against the driver of the bus. |
HVP leader resigns HISAR, Dec 5 — Mr Mangeram Gupta, vice-president of the local unit of the Haryana Vikas Party (HVP) has resigned from the party along with his supporters and joined the newly formed Sarvjatiya Manch floated by Mr Om Prakash Jindal, a former MP. In a statement issued here
today Mr Gupta alleged that proper respect was not being
given to workers of the HVP and the party had become
personal party of Mr Bansi Lal. |
3 youths arrested SONEPAT, Dec 5 — The Gohana police has arrested three youths and recovered a stolen motorcycle from their possession. Superintendent of Police K. Selvraj told mediapersons here today that the arrested had been identified as Ravinder of Moi Hooda village and Birender and Sunil of Meham Farmana village. The police, he said, also recovered two country made pistols from the possession of the arrested. He disclosed that one of
the suspects had purchased the motor cycle from Raju who
is already in prison at Jind. The suspects, he said, had
changed the number plate of the stolen motorcycle and
were planning to commit a dacoity at Gohana when they
were arrested. |
Bicycle rally on polio
immunisation PANCHKULA, Dec 5 — The Rotary Club of Panchkula organised a bicycle rally for students to spread the message of polio immunisation campaign here today. As many as 500 children took part in the rally, which was flagged off from Red Bishop Hotel in Sector 1 by the S.P. Mr Alok Mittal. The rally culminated at Police Parade Ground in Sector 5. A slogan-writing contest
on polio was also organised. |
Students hold march ROHTAK, Dec 5 — Students of Vaish College, University College and Hindu College held a march here under the banner of Dr Ambedkar Students' front in protest against the non-implementation of the reservation policy in the MDU and atrocities against Dalit students. Later, they assembled at
the local Ambedkar Chowk and vowed not to tolerate the
"atrocities" and "discrimination". |
Manch criticises Vajpayee govt JIND, Dec 5 — The Jan Sangathan manch at a meeting here today accused the Vajpayee government of adopting anti people policies. The wrong economic and
industries policies of the government, unemployment and
rise in the prices of essential commodities were
criticised and the manch opposed the opening of the
insurance sector to private entrepreneurs and
multinationals. |
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